Browsing: Bryson

Having just completed a Tuesday-morning spin through Bethpage Black’s back nine, Bryson DeChambeau wasn’t done. He strutted from the 18th green to the adjacent first tee box, plopped down his launch monitor, and started swinging away alongside teammate Justin Thomas.

The goal? To drive the first green, like he did in singles four years ago at Whistling Straits, and it took seven mighty lashes before DeChambeau was satisfied. His caddie, Greg Bodine, told ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti that he thought one caught the front edge with a 360-yard poke over the right trees. Not that it mattered either way. To the throng of observers, many of whom had been following the American superstar the entire morning, just the spectacle of it all was both wildly entertaining and energizing. Keep in mind, it was only Tuesday.

Scottie Scheffler, the world’s top-ranked golfer, may be the Americans’ best player.

And Thomas, the now savvy veteran, may be their emotional leader.

But DeChambeau, the popular-yet-polarizing LIV and YouTube poster boy, is arguably the U.S. linchpin.

Xander Schauffele shared as much with Keegan Bradley, telling his captain upon arriving on Long Island, “I feel like Bryson could be the difference for us.â€

“This is his arena,†Schauffele explained. “If he views himself as a gladiator golfer, this is as good as it gets. … I’m excited to sort of see what he can do, and hopefully [he can] get a lot of points up on the board because his points might hit harder than maybe my points, for example, just because of how he might celebrate and get these fans into this tournament quickly.â€

Bethpage is colloquially known as the People’s Country Club. The municipal has previously hosted U.S. Opens, a PGA and soon a Women’s PGA, along with numerous Met section and state tournaments, while still costing just $80 for New York residents to play on weekends.

Some may fancy DeChambeau the modern-day People’s Golfer, as he’s helped supercharge his fanbase by fully embracing social media; his YouTube following alone is nearly 2.5 million strong. And when he shows up to majors these days, the electricity in DeChambeau’s galleries is as palpable, if not more, than the crowds that follow Scheffler, Rory McIlroy and other PGA Tour heavyweights. This week, in what Thomas predicts to be the “biggest golf event ever,†expect the DeChambeau effect to be amplified.

“He’s a showman out there,†Patrick Cantlay said. “I think he’s going to get the crowd fired up.â€

There are still three more days until the 45th Ryder Cup officially begins, and DeChambeau is already heating up Bethpage’s burners. As he signed autographs on Tuesday, multiple security guards and tournament staff had to hold onto the metal railings to keep them from failing over as fans jostled to score signatures and photos. For those who couldn’t get close, they later resorted to sliding their flags and Sharpies through crevices between some mesh fencing and a brick walkway; DeChambeau, without hesitation, obliged, bending down to scribble his John Hancock on a few more items as he slowly made his way to the range. It was there that he incited more roars, beating ball after ball like a lead guitarist ending a song by strumming the final chord multiple times, each harder than the last.

Not every stage, of course, has been DeChambeau’s element. When DeChambeau made his Ryder Cup debut in Paris in 2018, he was a slender, oft-misunderstood scientist with a Hogan cap – and that week, he lost points alongside Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson before also dropping his singles match to end an 0-3 performance. Three years later, DeChambeau had not only transformed his body into a beefy, long-drive type, but he’d become a lightning rod, too, after beefs with Brooks Koepka, the media and galleries at nearly every Tour stop. He and Koepka would put their differences aside in a dominant U.S. victory in Wisconsin, but by the next summer, they were both off to LIV Golf, where, mostly free from weekly scrutiny, DeChambeau began to recraft his image.

While he’s become a force in majors (seven top-8s since joining LIV, including his 2024 U.S. Open triumph) and as a moonlighting golf influencer, DeChambeau’s popularity has followed a similar trajectory. If he hasn’t changed the minds of critics who still question the genuineness of this glow up, judging by the volume of his following, both outside the ropes and online, he’s won over just about everyone else, including his Ryder Cup teammates.

With DeChambeau banned from competing in PGA Tour events, he might’ve easily been excused from a team dinner ahead of the Procore Championship two weeks ago in Napa. And yet, DeChambeau showed up – and just days after he spent two days supporting the U.S. Walker Cup team at Cypress Point. That’s not the only time that he’s charmed Bradley, who applauded not only DeChambeau’s commitment but his feat of earning one of six automatic selections despite only being allowed to play the majors.

“He’s made every effort possible and been incredible in the team room,†Bradley said.

Scheffler called DeChambeau a “good friend.†Russell Henley recalled a story from 2021, when DeChambeau, amid all that Koepka drama, took the time to encourage Henley after a tough finish at the Wyndham Championship.

“I was leading the tournament, and I choked it away,†Henley said. “Two weeks later … he walked up and he goes, ‘Hey, man, keep your head up. That happens to everybody. You’re playing some great golf,’ and just encouraged me. I’ll always remember that.â€

FARMINGDALE, NY – SEPTEMBER 23: Bryson DeChambeau of Team United States signs autographs on the 18th hole on the Black Course during the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage State Park on Tuesday, September 23, 2025 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Michael Reaves/PGA of America)

Michael Reaves/PGA of America/PGA

But all that’s not to completely absolve DeChambeau, who still possesses the ability to stir the pot and get under people’s skins. Case in point: McIlroy, whom DeChambeau has irked more than once since he sent McIlroy peeling rubber out of the Pinehurst parking lot last summer. After McIlroy exacted his revenge while paired with DeChambeau on Sunday at the Masters, DeChambeau told reporters that McIlroy “didn’t talk to me all day.†He then said to People magazine in July, referencing the Ryder Cup: “I’ll be chirping in [McIlroy’s] ear this time. Now, if we go up against each other, I mean, you can be sure of it.â€

The latter comments might’ve been harmless and playful, but McIlroy didn’t appear to be amused. In a recent interview with The Guardian, he said of DeChambeau, “I think the only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people. That is basically what I think of that. To get attention he will mention me or Scottie or others.â€

DeChambeau responded to McIlroy in an interview Monday with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis.

“All I’m trying to do is inspire kids on YouTube, and we’ve amassed quite a big audience on YouTube,†DeChambeau said. “I’m continuing to focus on that train of thought. … I didn’t mean anything by [my comments about McIlroy] other than I’m excited. I hope we can have some good banter back and forth, and if not, if he wants to do what he’s doing, great, no problem. Crowd is going to be on our side. We’re going to have a fun time. But ultimately, my job is to get a kid out there who is looking at me hitting a golf ball smiling.â€

Asked if he saw a rivalry between he and McIlroy, DeChambeau answered: “There’s a rivalry between every one of us golfers. Is it heightened with Rory? Sure. You can make it that way. But look, anytime we go out in the arena, we’re trying to be the best we can possibly be, and if it helps the game of golf out, too, then great, so be it.â€

After listening to DeChambeau, Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee sounded off. Not only did Chamblee question DeChambeau’s YouTube metrics – “I have no doubt bots are generating a lot of those views†– but he wondered aloud if DeChambeau cared more about the Ryder Cup or his social channels.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — As U.S. Ryder Cup rookie Ben Griffin was practicing chip shots from the rough behind Bethpage Black’s 15th green Tuesday afternoon, one got away from him. High, hot and bound for … Bryson DeChambeau’s dome. The ball could have left a mark (or worse!), but it didn’t. That’s because Griffin’s quick-thinking caddie, Alex Ritthamel, leapt in front of the orb and swatted it out of the air like an NBA center defending the hoop.

“You could have killed him!” a fan barked at Griffin.

Not missing a beat, Griffin deadpanned, “He’s indestructible.”

DeChambeau, his broad shoulders, muscular frame and superhuman tee shots notwithstanding, is, in fact, not indestructible. But his shell has hardened over the years, the result, he’ll tell you, of arriving at a place in his life where he feels like he can express his true self, be that on a golf course, swarmed by autograph-hungry fans or starring in one of his much-watched YouTube videos. “Once I became more authentic to myself,” he said at the U.S. Open in June, “I feel like I became more comfortable.”

Which isn’t to say DeChambeau isn’t still polarizing, and not only because he ditched the PGA Tour for the riches of LIV Golf in 2022. Still hanging over DeChambeau, at least in some circles, are questions about his motives, a reality of which golf fans have been reminded in the run-up to this 45th Ryder Cup. The first barb came from European star Rory McIlroy, who in an interview with the British paper, The Guardian, was asked to respond to DeChambeau’s assertion that he intends to “chirp” McIlroy at Bethpage.

McIlroy sounded unperturbed, saying that the “only way” DeChambeau stays in the public eye is “by mentioning other people.” McIlroy added, “To get attention he will mention me or Scottie [Scheffler] or others.”

The tit-for-tat continued Monday at the Ryder Cup when DeChambeau, in response to McIlroy’s remarks, told Golf Channel: “All I’m trying to do is inspire kids on YouTube, and we have amassed quite a big audience on YouTube and I’m continuing to focus on that train of thought, and whatever Rory says and whatnot, granted I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m excited. I hope we can have some good banter back and forth.”

Those remarks — we’re almost done here, promise! — in turn caught the ear of Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee, who took out his flamethrower and accused DeChambeau of being more interested in his YouTube channel than he is in the U.S. Ryder Cup team. Chamblee added: “He’s an odd duck when he’s trying to blend in with the team, and he has so many potential bulletin-board mistakes. I think he would be a captain’s nightmare.”

Harsh! But is it true?

Every American player who was asked about DeChambeau’s place on the U.S. team Tuesday went to bat for him. Predictably? Maybe. You would not expect any Ryder Cupper to pick apart a teammate three days before the matches begin. But still, the U.S. team’s feedback on DeChambeau was so universally positive than you couldn’t help but buy into it.

Scottie Scheffler called DeChambeau a “tremendous competitor” and said that “the people love him.” Patrick Cantlay said, “I’m glad he’s on our side. He’s a showman out there. I think he’s going to get the crowd fired up.” Xander Schauffele characterized DeChambeau as a “gladiator golfer,” adding, “I feel like Bryson could be like the difference for us.”

And U.S. captain Keegan Bradley, whose opinion matters most? He said DeChambeau has been “incredible in the team room,” adding, “We need the energy from Bryson, and he brings that every day.”

DeChambeau certainly did on a warm and breezy Tuesday at Bethpage Black, where he played a nine-hole practice round (10 through 18) with Cameron Young and two of DeChambeau’s likely partners this week, Ben Griffin and Justin Thomas. While his playing partners largely were focused on assessing aim lines and green slopes and club selections, DeChambeau also made time for the galleries. Fist bumps. High fives. Arms waving upward to stoke the cheers. On the 13th green, DeChambeau was greeted by a woman and two young boys perched in the grandstand behind the green. They were holding a homemade sign that read, “Bryson, we skipped school to caddy for you.”

Bryson out here full-sending corner-cutting drives off first tee. This was his seventh attempt. Crowd lapping it up. Not hard to imagine him opening this Ryder Cup with bomb on same hero line. pic.twitter.com/G2ZA30rM2u

— Alan Bastable (@alan_bastable) September 23, 2025

From the galleries’ warm receptions on every tee box and green, you also got the sense more than a few adults played hooky for a glimpse of DeChambeau. However you feel about the guy, he is undeniably the most popular player on the U.S. team. For every cry of “Justin!” or “Cam!”, there were two dozen clamors for Bryson.

It’d be foolish to try and read too much into a nine-hole practice round, but the vibes between DeChambeau and his teammates also seemed sound. After Thomas chipped a ball from the back of the 12th green to within five or six feet of the hole, Griffin assured Thomas the chip was “good enough” because, in foursomes play, DeChambeau would assuredly clean it up. On 18, Thomas and DeChambeau collaborated on a read, and as things were winding down, DeChambeau traversed the green, shaking hands with or patting the shoulder of each of his playing partners.

But DeChambeau’s practice session wasn’t over just yet.

With players, coaches and other hangers-on still milling around the 18th green, he marched to the adjacent 1st tee. There has been speculation about whether DeChambeau will drive the green on the opener, a 430-yard par-4 that plays considerably shorter for players who can muscle their tee shots over the corner of the rightward dogleg. DeChambeau, the tee to himself, put a peg in the ground and blasted a tee shot on the hero line. Then another. And another. And another. The crowds in the towering grandstand that looms over the 18th green and 1st tee were eating it up — and egging him on, with cries of “You got this, Bryson!” and chants of “U-S-A!”

His sixth blast looked to be his last, but then DeChambeau looked up at the grandstand — and with showman cap squarely on — mouthed, “One more?”

Hell, yes, one more!

DeChambeau teed up another, took two waggles and unloaded. As he followed through, he grunted and his driver recoiled. Who knows where the ball went, and who cared?

Friday can’t get here soon enough.

Bryson DeChambeau has faced a good bit of criticism ahead of the Ryder Cup, but United States team captain Keegan Bradley came to his defense.

Bradley said DeChambeau’s “energy” is needed in an event like the Ryder Cup.

“He’s a really fiery player,” Bradley said Tuesday, per ESPN’s Paolo Uggetti. “When you come to a Ryder Cup, you don’t want guys to try to be something they’re not. We have a lot of calm, mellow guys, so we need the energy from Bryson.”

DeChambeau, who is the only member of the United States’ team that competes in LIV rather than the PGA Tour, has been criticized throughout his career, witch much of that criticism being because of his YouTube channel.

Uggetti noted that Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee on Monday called DeChambeau a “captain’s nightmare” who cares only for “interest for himself.”

But DeChambeau’s teammates have his back heading into the event, which begins Friday. Along with Bradley, Scottie Scheffler had high praise for DeChambeau.

“I think Bryson is a tremendous competitor. He’s a great partner as well. I partnered with him in 2021 at Whistling Straits and he was a tremendous guy to be out to be golf course with. He’s a great guy and a good friend and he’s been great in our team room,” Scheffler said, per CBS Sports’ Robby Kalland. “He brings a lot of energy, the people love him, and I think he loves the opportunity to be able to represent his country. He’s a multiple-time U.S. Open winner, and that means a lot to him. Being an American I think means a lot to him as well. I’m excited to kind of unleash him this week.”

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The anticipation for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black has built over the last 23 months, and the temperature around the biennial showdown has been ratcheted up as two of the marquee names trade jabs ahead of the first tee shots Friday.

Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau’s rivalry has grown over the past few years. The two stars are on opposite sides of the PGA Tour-LIV Golf feud and have had two memorable major championship battles, with DeChambeau stealing the 2024 U.S. Open from McIlroy and the Northern Irishman returning the favor by giving DeChambeau the silent treatment en route to a win at the Masters this April.

This summer, the two have continued to exchange barbs.

Rory McIlroy’s Ryder Cup promise will tell the story at Bethpage Black

By:

Josh Schrock

Rory McIlroy and Bryson DeChambeau’s Ryder Cup jabs

At the “Happy Gilmore 2” premiere in July, People Magazine asked DeChambeau about McIlroy and the Ryder Cup.

“I’ll be chirping in [McIlroy’s] ear this time. Now, if we go up against each other, I mean, you can be sure of it,” DeChambeau said.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian’sEwen Murray at the Tour Championship in August, McIlroy dismissed DeChambeau’s plan to trash-talk him at Bethpage Black.

“I think the only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people. That is basically what I think of that. To get attention he will mention me or Scottie [Scheffler] or others,” McIlroy told the Guardian.

With both teams descending on Long Island this week, DeChambeau responded to McIlroy’s jab about his quest for attention.

Bryson responds to Rory’s dig

DeChambeau will be one of the biggest storylines this week at Bethpage Black. The Crushers GC frontman qualified for Team USA off the back of eight major championship starts and has drawn rave reviews from captain Keegan Bradley and his teammates.

The two-time U.S. Open champion caught up with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis on Monday and responded to McIlroy’s jab and their growing rivalry by focusing on his YouTube channel.

“All I’m trying to do is inspire kids on YouTube, and we’ve amassed quite a big audience on YouTube,” DeChambeau said. “I’m continuing to focus on that train of thought. Whatever Rory says and whatnot — granted, I didn’t mean anything by it other than I’m excited. I hope we can have some good banter back and forth, and if not, if he wants to do what he’s doing, great, no problem. Crowd is going to be on our side. We’re going to have a fun time. But ultimately, my job is to get a kid out there who is looking at me hitting a golf ball smiling.

“There’s a rivalry between every one of us golfers. Is it heightened with Rory? Sure. You can make it that way. But look, anytime we go out in the arena, we’re trying to be the best we can possibly be, and if it helps the game of golf out to then great, so be it.”

After Europe’s romp in Rome in 2023, McIlroy promised that the Europeans would win at Bethpage Black. That’s a clip that Bradley has played for his team on numerous occasions. DeChambeau wasn’t part of the 2023 team but will be a critical part of Team USA’s goal to take back the trophy and stop McIlroy’s pledge from coming true, especially given how he feeds off the home crowd and vice versa.

“I was telling Keegan, I feel like Bryson could be like the difference for us in a strange way from the standpoint of feeding into these fans, the style of golf he plays,” Xander Schauffele said Tuesday. “And also how — like you’ll get me, I’ll make a putt, and you won’t see too much of a reaction. That’s just who I am. That’s kind of how I operate. Maybe it might change this week, who knows. These Ryder Cups bring out the best in you at times.

“But Bryson is like, this is his arena. If he views himself as a gladiator golfer, this is as good as it gets. He’s been awesome. He’s been awesome in the team room. I’m excited to sort of see what he can do, and hopefully get a lot of points up on the board because his points might hit harder than maybe my points, for example, just because of how he might celebrate and get these fans into this tournament quickly.”

The Ryder Cup begins at 7:10 a.m. ET on Friday with four foursomes matches.

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — Bryson DeChambeau has been the recipient of harsh criticism ahead of this week’s Ryder Cup, so United States captain Keegan Bradley went to bat for the polarizing LIV Golf star.

Bradley said he believes DeChambeau, the only U.S. player not on the PGA Tour, will be an X factor for the the Americans — not just with his play, but with the energy he is set to bring to the home crowd at Bethpage Black.

“He’s a really fiery player,” Bradley said Tuesday. “When you come to a Ryder Cup, you don’t want guys to try to be something they’re not. We have a lot of calm, mellow guys, so we need the energy from Bryson.”

Bradley’s comments came less than 24 hours after Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee ripped DeChambeau as a “captain’s nightmare” and accused the two-time U.S. Open champion of drumming up “interest for himself” by promoting his YouTube channel rather than talking about the Ryder Cup.

“Bryson plays most of his golf on a tour where he mostly could be in the witness protection program,” Chamblee said Monday during the Golf Channel’s coverage of the Ryder Cup. “Nobody watches, he doesn’t get any attention. So when he does come out, there’s a bit of a circus-barker element to it to drum up some interest for himself.”

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European star Rory McIlroy also took a recent shot at DeChambeau, saying the “only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people.”

DeChambeau, when asked earlier this year about potentially facing McIlroy in the Ryder Cup after the two were paired in the final round of the Masters, said that he intended to “chirp in [McIlroy’s] ear” at Bethpage.

McIlroy responded to those comments last month during an interview with the Guardian.

“I think the only way he gets attention is by mentioning other people,” McIlroy told the Guardian. “That is basically what I think of that. To get attention he will mention me or Scottie [Scheffler] or others.”

When asked Monday by Golf Channel if he had a response to McIlroy’s comments, DeChambeau tried to take the high road.

“All I’m trying to do is inspire kids on YouTube,” DeChambeau said. “Whatever Rory says and whatnot is great. He didn’t mean anything by it. I’m excited, I hope we can have some good banter back and forth and if not and he wants to do what he’s doing, great, no problem. Crowd’s going to be on our side.”

DeChambeau is set to play in his third Ryder Cup this week after not making the team in 2023. It will mark the first time he’s playing in a Ryder Cup as a member of LIV Golf.

DeChambeau’s U.S. teammates have so far heaped praise on him this week, making note about how much he’s done to be involved with the team even though he doesn’t play on the PGA Tour.

“I was telling Keegan, I feel like Bryson could be like the difference for us in a strange way from the standpoint of feeding into these fans, the style of golf he plays,” Xander Schauffele said Tuesday. “He’s been great in the team room.”

“I think what people don’t realize, he’s made a huge effort being a part of this team, flying to team dinners, showing up weeks that he’s playing on the LIV to where we are on the PGA Tour just to be a part of that team,” J.J. Spaun added. “Given his personality and his brand, he’s great with the fans. I think that’s going to be a huge attribute to the team this week.”

Bradley noted the challenge DeChambeau faces of integrating himself into a team full of PGA Tour players, added that “he’s done an exceptional job of making the extra effort.”

Scheffler, who paired with DeChambeau in 2021 at Whistling Straits, called DeChambeau a “tremendous competitor” and a “great partner.” The world No. 1 also noted that the kind of frenzy DeChambeau will be able to create is going to play a key role in their attempt at beating the Europeans.

“He brings a lot of energy, the people love him,” Scheffler said. “I’m excited to unleash him this week.”

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